On This Day — Remembering Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 (USTICA – June 27 1980)

Posted on June 27, 2021 by L

“We still hope the truth will come out. We know that very probably the plane was struck down by a missile. Too many people have been keeping this secret for too long but we will not give up until we know everything that happened.”

Daria Bonfietti

flight870
The remains of Itavia Airlines flight 870

June 27 2019 — When the passenger jet crashed, the immediate theory was that it was a tragic accident caused by some kind of mechanical or structural failure. Then, there was the suggestion that terrorists could have planted a bomb, but that theory was also rejected. And then, the truth came out. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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On This Day — “Ich bin ein Berliner” (June 26 1963) [2021]

Posted on June 26, 2021 by L

“Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was ‘Civis Romanus Sum’. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ … All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!'”

U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin (June 26 1963)

Kennedy’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech was watched by West Berliners

June 26 2019 — The speech is considered one of Kennedy’s best, both a notable moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an enclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — The First NSA Defection : William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell (June 25 1960) [2021]

Posted on June 25, 2021 by L

“The United States Government is as unscrupulous as it has accused the Soviet Government of being. Our main dissatisfaction concerned some of the practices the United States uses in gathering intelligence information … deliberately violating the airspace of other nations … intercepting and deciphering the secret communications of its own allies … Perhaps United States hostility towards Communism arises out of a feeling of insecurity engendered by Communist achievements in science, culture and industry.”

William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell — The first NSA whistleblowers

 

NSA defectors William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell at the Moscow press conference announcing their defection, July 1, 1960.

June 25 2020 — The National Security Agency faced a terrible crisis in the summer of 1960 when two cryptologists disappeared on vacation. On June 25 1960, Mitchell and Martin left the U.S. for Mexico. They traveled from there to Havana and then sailed on a Russian freighter to the Soviet Union. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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The search for the “Fifth Man” — Spooks and Chess Players [UPDATE — Intel Today Analysis Quoted in Top Russian Newspaper]

Posted on June 24, 2021 by L

“They began a mad search for enemies inside the organisation itself – seeking to find more hidden traitors who could be used to explain why MI5 kept failing to do its job properly. It was the search for the “Fifth Man” – to go with the other four already exposed, Burgess, McLean, Philby and Blunt.”

spy-chess

February 15 2017 — A story about the legendary — and sometime hilarious — incompetence of MI5 caught my attention. The whole piece is worth reading, but I will just focus on the following allegation: “The assistant of a MI5 Director was communicating with the Russians through his Correspondence Chess Games”.  Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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Remembering Alan Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) [UPDATE — Alan Turing £50 note enters circulation]

Posted on June 24, 2021 by L

“A new inquiry is long overdue, even if only to dispel any doubts about the true cause of his death—including speculation that he was murdered by the security services (or others). I think murder by state agents is unlikely. There is no known evidence pointing to any such act. However, it is a major failing that this possibility has never been considered or investigated.”

 Peter Tatchell — Human Rights advocate

June 7 2019 — Alan Turing was a mathematician, cryptographer and pioneer of computer science who possessed one of the greatest brains of the 20th century. His life was one of secret triumphs shadowed by public tragedy. It has been estimated that his work shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved over fourteen million lives. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — The Intelligence Identities Protection Act (June 23 1982) [2021]

Posted on June 23, 2021 by L

“The legislation ultimately will harm, not help, our national security interests (…)  If left to stand, it will curtail legitimate journalistic scrutiny of a particularly important and sensitive area of government, creating the possibility that wrongdoing or wrong-headedness could flourish in that area, unchecked by public awareness.”

Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D) of Delaware — Member of the US Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence (April 6, 1982)

June 23 2019 — On June 23 1982, President Reagan visited the CIA Headquarters for the signing of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The 1982 Act is one of the few U. S. federal laws that criminalizes the disclosure of truthful information about government activities. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Posted in CIA, Intelligence Identities Protection Act, John Kiriakou, Mike D"Andrea, Valerie Plame | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Dead Man Diary : Sarkozy 2007 Presidential Election Campaign Funded by Gaddafi? [UPDATE : Prosecutor seeks prison time — again — for French ex-president Sarkozy]

Posted on June 22, 2021 by L

“In February 2020, Sarkozy quoted Nelson Mandela during a conference: ‘I never lose. I either win or learn.’ I expect Sarkozy to learn a big lesson next month.”

Intel Today — February 11 2021

September 30 2016 — French news website ‘Mediapart’ has uncovered hard evidence documenting the funding of Sarkozy’s presidential campaign (2007) by Colonel Gaddafi.

UPDATE (March 1 2021) — Today, a Paris court found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — The Central Intelligence Agency Act Is Signed (June 20 1949) [2021]

Posted on June 21, 2021 by L

“I think it has become necessary to take another look at the purpose and operations of our Central Intelligence Agency. At least, I would like to submit here the original reason why I thought it necessary to organize this Agency during my Administration, what I expected it to do and how it was to operate as an arm of the President. (…) We have grown up as a nation, respected for our free institutions and for our ability to maintain a free and open society. There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position and I feel that we need to correct it.”

Harry Truman (December 22, 1963)

 

June 20 2019 — On this day in 1949, President Truman signed the Central Intelligence Agency Act, permitting the CIA to use confidential fiscal and administrative procedures. By 1963, Truman admitted in writing that he was seriously “disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment.” Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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Sunday Parody — Comedian Jon Stewart on the Wuhan Lab-Leak Theory

Posted on June 20, 2021 by L

“I think we owe a great debt of gratitude to science. Science has in many ways helped ease the suffering of this pandemic, which was more than likely caused by science.”

Comedian Jon Stewart (June 14 2021)

June 20 2021 — On Monday, comedian Jon Stewart hilariously promoted the theory that the coronavirus was created and leaked from the Wuhan lab in China on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Atomic Spies Rosenbergs Are Executed (June 19 1953) [New Book: Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy.]

Posted on June 19, 2021 by L

“If the English want a king, it is their business. If the Russians want communism, it is their business. If the Americans want our form of government, it is our business.”

“This death sentence is not surprising. It had to be.”

Julius Rosenberg

A lithograph of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg made and signed by Pablo Piccaso in 1952.

June 19 2019 — On Friday June 19, 1953 at 8 pm, Julius Rosenberg was strapped into the electric chair and died after the first jolt. Ethel proved a bit harder to kill. Her heart was still beating after three shocks.  Two more needed to be applied to finally end her life. At that point, witnesses saw a puff of smoke escape from her skull. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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